My thoughts on the Phillies season.

Ryan Braun and the Brewers spoil the Phils’ home opener, as the Phils lose to the Brew Crew, 10-4.

Three home runs by Ryan Braun helps the Brew Crew ruin the Phils’ opening day at Citizens Bank Park, as the Phils lose to the Brewers, 10-4.

The Phils took the lead in the bottom of the first as, with two men on, and with two men out, Marlon Byrd hits an RBI infield single, knocking in Carlos Ruiz, who had earlier walked, then stopped at third base on Ryan Howard’s double, giving the Phils a 1-0 lead, while sending Howard, who had just doubled, up to third base. The Brewers would tie the game up at one-all in the top of the second as, with a runner on second, and with two men out, Mark Reynolds hits an RBI single, scoring Jonathan Lucroy, who had earlier doubled. The Brewers would take the lead in the top of third as, with two men on, and with nobody out, Ryan Braun hits a three-run home run, his first home run of the season, knocking in Carlos Gomez, who had started the inning off with a double, then moved up to third base on Jean Segura’s sacrifice bunt, and Segura, who would be safe at first on his bunt as pitcher Kyle Kendrick committed a fielding error trying to field the ball, giving the Brewers a 4-1 lead. The Brewers would add to their lead five batters later as, with two men on, and now with two men out, Scooter Gennett hits an RBI single, knocking in Lucroy, who had earlier walked, then stopped at second base on third baseman Cody Asche’s throwing error to first on Reynolds’ grounder, making it a 5-1 Brewers’ lead, while sending Reynolds, who was earlier safe on Asche’s error, over to third base. The Brewers then took a 6-1 lead as, with two men out, Braun hits a solo home run, his second home run of the season, and of the ball game. The Phils would get a run back in their half of the fourth as, with one man on, and with two men out, Jimmy Rollins hits an RBI double, knocking in Ben Revere, who had just singled, making it a 6-2 Brewers’ lead. The Phils then cut the Brewers’ lead down to 6-3 in the bottom of the fifth as, with two men on, and with two men out, Asche hits an RBI single, knocking in Dom Brown, who had earlier walked, then stopped at second base on Cesar Hernandez’s single, while sending Hernandez, who had just singled, up to third base. The Phils then made it a 6-4 Brewers’ lead in the bottom of the sixth as, with a man on third, and with nobody out, Rollins hits an RBI single, knocking in Revere, who had just tripled. The Brewers would get a run back in the top of the seventh as, with one man on, and with two men out, Khris Davis, who had just singled, would score on a fielding error committed by Revere on Reynolds’ fly ball, as he would be unable to catch the ball, making it a 7-4 Brewers’ lead, while Reynolds would stop at second base on the error. The Brewers then made it a 10-4 lead in the top of the eighth as, with two men on, and with one man out, Braun would hit his second three-run home run of the game, his third home run of the season, as he knocked in Gomez, who had earlier doubled and Segura, who had just been hit by the pitch. That would end up being the final score as Jim Henderson threw a 1-2-3 inning, striking out Ruiz on a foul tip, to end the game.

Kyle Kendrick (0-1, 3.75) took the lost as he pitched five innings, giving up six runs, only four of which were earned, on nine hits and two walks, while he struck out three. B.J. Rosenberg pitched one and two-thirds innings, giving up an unearned run on two hits. Mario Hollands pitched a third of an inning, getting out the only batter whom he would face. Brad Lincoln pitched two innings, giving up three runs on four hits and a hit batter, while striking out two. Kyle Lohse (1-1, 4.50) got the win as he pitched five innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and five walks, while striking out four. Zach Duke collected his second hold of the season as he pitched an inning, giving up a run on two hits, while striking out two. Will Smith also collected his second hold of the season as he pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk, while striking out a batter. Brandon Kintzler and Jim Henderson combined for two 1-2-3 innings, striking out three batters (Kintzler (1), Henderson (2)) between them.

The Phils had nine hits in the game, with Ben Revere (Single, Triple) and Jimmy Rollins (Single, Double, 2 RBIs) leading the ballclub with two hits each. Ryan Howard (Double), Marlon Byrd (Single, RBI), Dom Brown (Single), Cesar Hernandez (Single) and Cody Asche (Single, RBI), had the other five Phils’ hits. The Phils also had six walks (Rollins, Carlos Ruiz, Brown (2), Hernandez, Asche) in the game, while the defense would commit three errors (Kyle Kendrick, Asche, Revere), and throw out two runners (Kendrick/Ruiz. B.J. Rosenberg/Ruiz).

The Phils (3-4, T-4th East) will continue their series with the Brewers (5-2, T-1st Central) with a game tonight. The game will be played at Citizens Bank Park and is to start at 7:05 pm EDT. The Phils will send to the mound Roberto Hernandez (1-0, 3.38) who is coming off a win against the Cubs on April 4, as he pitched five and a third innings, giving up three runs on two hits and a walk, while striking out five, in the Phils’ 7-2 win. He’ll be trying to lead the Phils back to .500. The Brewers will counter with Matt Garza (0-1, 1,13), who is coming off a lost against the Braves on April 2, as he went eight innings, giving up a run on two hits and a walk, while striking out seven, in the Brewers’ 1-0 lost. He will be looking for his first win of the season. The Phils will be trying to get back to .500 while trying to even the series up at a game apiece.

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